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Friday, January 21, 2005

Are we guilty of idolatry?

It's a fact. When asked what they prioritize in life, most people would choose either success in human relationships (family, marriage, etc.), or financial success (business, career, etc.) or even both. The ones who could excel in both are highly esteemed in society.

However, the question: "Where is the mention of God in this? Aren't we supposed to prioritize our relationship with God the most?"

Why? Consider this: most of us are guilty of idolatry and self-idolatry than we are aware of.

The first commandment in the Ten Commandments is: "Thou shall not have any other gods before me." At first glance, it seems so easy to follow, so direct. The truth is, it's not that simple.

Everyday is always a decision to prioritize either God, or someone/something. The will of God is for us to pass His tests, that we should ALWAYS choose Him. Simply put, God is first, before anyone or anything in this world.

That means a lot. Here are a few examples:

Example 1) A person who prioritizes his/her family above God.

Say, he is called by God to the priesthood, or she is called to be a nun and serve God. At first, there is great enthusiasm at such an honor given only to a very few. However, the person belongs to a wealthy family, and family pressures make that person change his/her mind. He/she has chosen family over God.

Example 2) Two lovers so in love with each other, that nothing else and no one else matters but the beloved.

Sure, it reeks of romantic emotions, of rosy "romantic schoolgirl fantasy". But that's beside the point.

Thoughts of love for God (of being in love with God first before another person or yourself, as God wills), are replaced by seemingly unstoppable human emotions for the human lover. The guy prioritizes love for God with love for the lady, and the lady does the same thing.

Instead of being grateful to God for giving them a partner, they failed the test and choose someone over God.

Reminds us of Romeo and Juliet. When family feuds besieged them, rather than be separated from each other, they chose to kill themselves. Literature has romanticized this, the truth is there's nothing romantic in suicide!

That's the result. Because they loved somebody else (their lover) more than God, they could commit murder - murder of their life. If they loved God more than somebody else (no matter who he/she is), the fear of committing mortal sin by suicide, would overcome any other emotion.

Be in love more with God first, before you love any other human person (not just as lovers, but also your family members). And never replace God with anybody else, not even love for yourself. Never forget who gave you those people to love in the first place.

As St. John said "God is love." God is the one and only source of all types of love. Without God, not one of us will have the ability to love or be loved back. Imagine a world without love, and life will simply have no meaningful purpose.

Without God, love cannot exist. Without love, life is meaningless, without purpose. Therefore, without God, life is meaningless and without purpose.

ON ROMANCE:

God made romance an important part of a male-female human relationship, especially at the start. It is like the "childhood part" of every person's life, where there's a lot of fun, joy, happiness, and not much problems or hardships (not yet at least). Everything that God has made is always good, always, never forget that.

But romance is only one part of a relationship. Like childhood is only one part of a person's life. It is not the highest priority. There are higher stages, where hardships, sufferings bring out the true test and strength of a relationship (or the lack of it).

Example 3) Prioritizing yourself over God

It's Sunday time, and a person knows he/she has to attend Mass that afternoon. He/she goes to the Playstation instead, plays around, and realizes it's time for Mass.

He/she muses "Hmmm, I feel quite lazy, I think I'll pass the Mass, just for today. I'll just attend Mass next week, anyway there's always a next time."

He/she has just prioritized himself/herself over God. Next week huh? What if God decided there would be no next week for that person?!!

This is also called self-idolatry. Every person always has that "free will" to choose either prioritizing God or oneself. This is never easy. There's that spiritual weakness called "pride" (also called vanity), which tends to pull us, and makes us prefer our own goals first before God (or even before other people).

Pride is also defined as inordinate love for oneself. It is a form of "narcissism", and the most dangerous of the seven sins. It is also acknowledged as the source of all evil.